Three Dead After Incident at Petronas' FSO Offshore Malaysia
May 26, 2026
Petronas has confirmed that an incident occurred during lifeboat maintenance work at the Sepat floating, storage and offloading (FSO) unit offshore Malaysia, resulting in three fatalities and one injury.
The incident occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. local time on May 24 at the Sepat field offshore Terengganu on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and involved four contractor personnel.
Petronas said three personnel were pronounced dead upon arrival at Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah in Kuala Terengganu at approximately 5:57 p.m., while one injured worker was evacuated for medical treatment and remains under observation.
Investigations into the cause of the incident are ongoing in coordination with relevant authorities, the company said.
“The immediate priority of the company is to support the well-being of those affected,” Petronas said in a statement.
The FSO Sepat operates at the Sepat field offshore Terenggan. In early 2026, Petronas announced plans to ramp up exploration and production over the next three years to strengthen domestic energy security. At the time, the company said the key projects such as Belud, Kurma Manis, and Sepat will play a pivotal role in meeting production targets.
In March 2026, OceanSTAR Engineering secured a long-term contract from Petronas to provide the lease, operation and maintenance of a new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) for the Sepat Integrated Redevelopment Project offshore Malaysia.
The agreement includes a 15-year firm charter with extension options and covers the full EPCIC scope for a new-build FPSO based on OceanSTAR’s standardized OSE GH200 hull design.
The spread-moored unit, destined for Block PM313 offshore Terengganu, will operate in around 70 meters of water depth and process at least 30,000 barrels of liquids per day, with gas injection, gas lift and future water injection capabilities.
At the time, OceanSTAR said the award marks one of Petronas’ first newly built FPSO developments for Malaysian waters, with the project currently in detailed engineering and procurement of long-lead equipment underway.
